the freedom that matters is the freedom to speak your mind, the freedom of speech. that s the most basic and essential of all the freedoms. and that s why it s enshrined in the very first amendment to the bill of rights. it s central not simply to freedom, but to humanity. it s not opposable thumbs that separate us from the animalsk. that s our power. words in the beginning was the word, declares john . at the opening of the fourth gospel, the word the word is the most important thing that we have. take away our ability to choose our own words, and we are no longer fully human. we are subjects. we re chattel. authoritarians understand this. above all, that s why they hate freedom of speech. in fact, if you gave them a choice, they d let you have a fully automatic 50 caliber machine gun before they allowed you to say exactly what you want with a gun, you might be able to kill people, but with words you can expose them . with words you can change the world. in fact, there has n
why countries in east asia and the pacific region are among the worst affected. we start in ukraine where a battlefield commander in the eastern town of bakhmut has told the bbc that the fighting is ferocious. a us official has said russian forces have made incremental advances around the town, with mercenaries from the russian paramilitary wagner group heavily involved in the assault. the battle has been described as a meat grinder with high numbers of casualties on both sides. almost all of the city s 70 thousand occupants have fled. russia is working hard to capture bakhmut in the hope it could lead to the fall of sloviansk and krama torsk as well the two most important cities in the donbas still under ukrainian control. but ukrainian forces are holding firm. the bbc s yogita limaye reports from the city. this is what the merciless bombardment of a city looks like. and how it sounds. once a quiet place known for sparkling wine, bakhmut is now a byword for war. and
northern ireland secretary says he will call an election on the 28th of october to if the stormont executive has not been convened. there were more than 3 thousand heat related deaths in england and wales this summer with more than 250 excess deaths a day recorded during the hottest period and we ll find out later which city will host next year s eurovision song contest the competition will be held in either liveprool or glasgow in place of ukraine social care providers are warning millions of people could be left without support unless there s a complete overhaul of the system. care england, which represents independent providers, says services for people who can t look after themselves, must be restructured or the nhs will be on its knees. the government says it s investing £5 billion in social care in england over the next three years. jeremy cooke reports. are you all right? have you been in the shower? for wendy, it is the first call of the day. i have got some
governing body had to say today. and it s another big night in the champions league as chelsea, looking for their first win in the competion, take on ac milan. also coming up on the programme before 7: the vote for the bbc women s footballer of the year is now open we ll tell you the five nominees you can pick your winnerfrom. welcome along, thank you forjoining us. we start tonight with rugby union, and the continuing crisis at worcester warriors. today the company which holds the contracts of players and some staff has been liquidated in the high court. it s been a devastating time for all associated with the club. how did we get here? on the 17th of august, worcester confirmed they remained in dialogue with hmrc over the threat of a winding up petition over an unpaid tax bill of approximately 6 million pounds. by the end of august, players and staff were warned that they wouldn t be paid on time and some handed in their notice. on the 21st of september worcester were giv